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Just before I moved to the Bay Area in February, I had one of my former co-workers at the nail salon in Hawaii treat me by doing my nails for me. This was the last time I had serious claws. We went all out!

I had selected several nail designs I liked, and used them as inspiration. I’m really into aliens and super natural. I think alien shapes and images make for cool designs– clothes or nails. Eyes & Evil Eyes I am obsessed with! I even have an evil eye bracelet tattooed on my wrist, I have Evil Eye jewelry, & I’m always thinking about what “eye” things I can get. I’m also totally & beyond into triangles. They are definitely my favorite shape. Gold is my favorite metal color, and I just loved the pink & purple colors of the 3D cone shaped stones. They were perfect with monochrome color scheme I went with.
Shadé did such an amazing job on my nails!

This nail set was a natural nail overlay using CalGel and Trump Gel.

These nails don’t necessarily have an obvious theme, except monochrome, lines & outlines. Don’t be afraid to mix-and-match and flirt with the “weird”.

It’s been a while! 2014 was a crazy one! I moved to CA and am starting everything from scratch. I haven’t been doing nails at all! Terrible– I know! But I finally got around to doing it just in time for Christmas.

If you noticed, my nails are short! My claws have been filed down to little shorties since June! It’s crazy but with my new job, it’s just impossible to keep my beautiful class intact.

This design was created using CalGel and Trump Gel. This nail set is a natural nail gel overlay. Gold & clear iridescent glitters with different sized gold hexagon Splash! brand holograms.

From time to time, I have the client who comes in for a combo– both hands & feet. These days, it’s not a huge deal to have to match your finger nails with your toe nails. I don’t usually rock the same pedi design as my gel nails. In fact, usually they are completely different. But, sometimes, I like to have a common theme.

My clients who ask for a mani-pedi combo generally try to match, whether in color or print, there is usually a connective concept. But sometimes. This can be hard because people are more open to have funky colors and designs on their toes, but stick to something more subtle and subdued on their hands. Otherwise, they are such wild and adventurous people, they can’t decide which single design they want to commit to.

That’s where I come in. The client will pick either a mani, gel nails, or pedi design, and I will have to work around it to make a cohesive combo design. Sometimes this is hard for me, because…well…I tend to have nail art ADD. Whoops! Luckily, I have always been able to find the perfect design for every client. (I just am a born talker. I can ask numerous open-ended questions and make descriptions to get to the image in our minds out).

Here are a few combo designs:

My own nails. When I was still learning how to do gel nails. This is a natural nail overlay using CalGel. Bow is a charm I bought online.

My own feet. Just polish.

This is actually a regular manicure using polish and holograms. We created a gradation look using black glitter polish and black & silver holograms.

We stayed with the silver & black color theme. This pedicure is done with just polish, and I painted on the zebra stripes with acrylic paint.

Natural nail overlay done using CalGel. One of my first gel clients. This is a safari type design– giraffe print with turquoise stones.

Skipped the giraffe print, but same gel color and stones. This pedi is a foot gel.

She wanted something simple and elegant for her wedding rehearsal. CalGel natural nail overlay in magenta pink with Swarovski stones.

Kept in sync with the Swarovski stones and elegant simple one color look. Instead of magenta, she opted for a soft nudish, beige-pink. This pedi is a foot gel.

My own nails I did. Natural nail overlay using CalGel and Eriko holograms. It is a heart design with polkadots. The bow is an acrylic charm piece purchased online.

My feet! This is personally one of my favorite pedicures I did for myself. I love the colors and the print. See, I told you my hands & feet don’t match, the only similarity in this combo is that they are both colorful. I used regular polish. China Glaze polishes and I painted on the spots with acrylic paint.

Another natural nail overlay gel nails. This is Trump Gel. The holograms are Eriko and the stars are stickers.

We didn’t do corals & pinks with silver for the pedi. Instead we went with a monochrome with a pop color & gold colors. The colors are alternated just like the hands. And we used the same star stickers to tie them in together. This design was done using polish.

I hope this have you guys some insight on the different combo approaches you can take. You don’t always have to match perfectly– or at all for that matter. Even the smallest details can tie together a mani and pedi.

One of my favorite things about doing nails is the flat nail art. I love being inspired by people, places, things, and events. But, I have noticed that with the creation of nail stamps and stickers, there are less hand drawn nail art. Though I love the convenience and accuracy of the stamps and stickers, it is sad to see the efforts of hand drawn art decline. I have even noticed many are now comparing the perfection of stamps and stickers to the work of hand drawn nail art–which are far less perfect next to machine-made graphics.

I actually can’t draw well on paper, but when it comes to nails, somehow I draw out more talent. No matter your skill level, I think it is important to practice your drawings. Practice makes perfect. While stickers and stamps are great, don’t forget about the art of hand-drawn nail art.

That’s why, this post is a dedication to hand-drawn nail art. Enjoy! Natural nail overlay with CalGel. I drew the lines. This was down for my client during the holidays. This is a natural nail overlay using CalGel, again. It is an orange color gradation and I drew the monarch butterfly design. Another CalGel natural nail overlay. This is my nails, I did for myself several months back. Sugar skulls! (Sorry the lighting sucks). Natural nail overlay using Trump Gel. Deep French done in blue. We went for a fun and funky goldfish // koi design. (Sorry the photo isn’t that great). Another natural nail overlay with Trump Gel. Coral deep French with sunflower design. She wanted me to use a color matching her ring. This is just regular polish. I used a bunch of China Glaze & O.P.I. glitter polishes . I drew the mermaid, and used Eriko holograms for the “bubbles.” I saw this neat design on the app, “Girl’s Pic” and wanted to try it out. This is me, practicing. I used only polish. This is a natural nail overlay using CalGel. It is a color gradation (#46) and Purnelle glitter (#001) all over. She is a tourist visiting from Japan, and wanted a “Hawaii themed” design. This pedi was done just yesterday on one of my clients, using just polish. I drew the hearts and the ribbons.

Pedicure done with polish. Nose done with acrylic for 3D. I have a serious panda obsession, and so I did this on my own toes. My regular (pictured here), saw it and wanted me to put them on her toes, too!

I hope this has inspired you all to try out and to practice your hand drawn flat nail art. It is actually a lot of fun, and so much more rewarding. Good luck, and have fun! Email me some of your best, if you like!